Stalker
by hinatasgreatestfan
Summary: Naruto has a stalker, and he knows it...what now?
1. The Dream Bond

Author Note: I'm trying something different with this fic. Parts of it will be written in "stream of consciousness" as it's called. So if parts of it don't seem to follow logic or seem like non-sequiturs, that's why. Also, this fic will focus on what goes on in the village proper, and will probably be filled with time-skips, just fair warning. Anyway, enjoy! I don't own Naruto. Also, WARNING: This chapter contains a lemon, my first, so be kind.

Chapter 1

A young blond boy ran through the streets of Konohagakure. He was fleeing from upper-level ninja. Again. His most recent prank had resulted in about fifty of Konoha's ANBU having their masks painted solid red, thereby destroying them, so now a large group of them were pursuing him. To their shock and consternation, the boy eluded them at every turn. They'd spot him for a few moments just to lose him again seconds later. They were the elite of the village, and this twelve-year-old boy was outrunning and eluding them! This was ridiculous!

Who was this boy? Well, his name meant next to nothing, even to those who knew him. His name was Naruto Uzumaki. But who was he? He was twelve years old, a prankster, an orphan, a knucklehead, a newly-minted Genin, and, most believed, a complete and total moron. He had tried to pass the Academy finals three times, and he had failed every time. He just couldn't master the Clone Jutsu, a very simple jutsu to everyone else in the village. Thus, everyone...well, almost everyone, believed he was just too stupid to get it, and, therefore, that he was a total idiot. They seemed to disregard the fact he had learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu in mere hours; that was, after all, what allowed him to pass the exam the last time he took it.

The boy did have one person who truly liked him and had for a long time, though he didn't know that, or, at least, everyone assumed he didn't know. Her name? Another that never meant much to even those who knew her: Hinata Hyuga. Who was she? She was, to those in her family, a failure, weak, a disgrace, and, oddly, the heiress to the Clan Head. To those who knew her from the Academy, she was a shy, timid girl who had a massive crush on the village's resident knucklehead, Naruto. To said blond, she was his stalker. If someone had heard Naruto knew of Hinata's habit of following him and watching him, they would have either called the one telling a liar or laughed. He was so stupid he couldn't even master one of the simplest jutsu in existence, yet he knew a very stealthy girl was following him? Yeah, right, and his father was the Fourth Hokage! Wait...

The fact was, however, Naruto did know Hinata was always there. He had seen her a couple times, and he could always sense her presence; having grown up being alone all the time, he was very skilled at sensing the presence of others near him. What Naruto didn't know, however, was why the girl followed him; he had an inkling as to why, but he wasn't sure and his idea was so ridiculous to his mind he generally disregarded it. And so it was that Naruto, while running from the ANBU, was thinking of the shy girl.

"_Why does she always follow me, watching me like that?"_ he asked himself. _"Oh, shit, I better move, ANBU getting closer. Hinata's always following me, watching me train. Is she trying to get my secrets for some reason? Did her clan send her to spy on me, maybe?"_ Naruto, while thinking about that, remembered hearing Sakura and Ino, two of his other fellow Genin, talking about Sasuke and saying something about how "hot" he would look without his shirt on. He had no idea why they said that, but it gave him an idea. Naruto was nothing if not a prankster, after all. _"Maybe I'll just give Hinata a little show next time she's watching me,"_ he thought to himself. He looked up and saw the group of ANBU he'd been avoiding all heading to the Hokage tower. He grinned. _"Ha ha! They gave up! Yep, I'm just that awesome!"_ With that, the boy made his way to the main gates of the village to pick up his stalker; he happened to know she had completed her last mission for the day recently and would likely be there. He chuckled at himself as he thought of that; it sounded kinda crazy to intentionally allow his stalker to follow him, but that was what he was going to do.

Hinata, meanwhile, was just meandering around the village, hoping to find Naruto. She was so used to following him every day, she didn't really know what to do with herself on days when she couldn't find him. She didn't know what he did on those days, obviously, though she'd often wondered. Hinata berated herself almost daily on her lack of courage; she followed Naruto not with the intention of stalking him, but in hopes of one day being able to talk to him, yet to this day she had never once been able to do any more than follow and watch him. She thought a couple times he had almost...there he was! She had been walking more or less aimlessly while thinking about this, and when she looked up as she neared the village gate, there he was, just a little bit down the street. He seemed to be thinking about something, but when he heard her step...did he look at her? She thought he did, but no, that couldn't be right, could it?

Hinata kicked herself mentally for her fantasies. He would never see her. She sighed. After all, he had that crush on Sakura...he was leaving! Hinata moved quickly, keeping him in her sights and keeping herself hidden carefully. Since she was behind him, she couldn't see the smirk on his face as he felt her coming after him.

A few minutes later, Naruto had arrived in a small clearing with a stream running through it; there was a deep pool at one edge of the clearing. Naruto grinned at the water, knowing it would be cool, but not cold. Naruto loved swimming, and this was one of his favorite spots. Naruto chuckled quietly, knowing Hinata was hiding in a nearby tree, watching his every move. He suspected her Byakugan was active; she was using a tiny bit of chakra. Or maybe that was to keep her rooted to the tree? It didn't matter, she was there and watching, that's all that mattered. He looked around, as if checking for anyone nearby.

Hinata gasped and nearly fell from the tree where she was perched when Naruto looked around like he was looking for anyone who might see him and seemed to look straight at her for several moments. Then his eyes passed on, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't seen her. Then she got the shock of her young life. As she watched, Naruto shucked his clothes. What in the world was he doing? As she watched, he stripped down first to just his boxers, then, with a cursory look around, he took those off as well. Hinata gasped; it took all her willpower to stay conscious, and there was a trickle of blood seeping from her nose. She could see every inch of his toned body. She knew he was muscular before, but now she could see how his muscles rippled with every motion he made.

Naruto laughed to himself as he dove into the water. He stayed underwater, where Hinata wouldn't hear him, and laughed long and hard. After his laugh, he surfaced and began to swim, his arms and legs propelling him through the water like a missile. He swam fast, loving the feel of the water skimming over his skin. He always loved swimming; somehow, his body always felt at its most natural in the water. He chuckled as he thought of what he was doing, then rolled onto his back and began backstroking.

Hinata worried for a moment when Naruto was underwater so long, but when he came up, she saw he was all right and just watched, amazed at how his muscles moved mere inches below his skin, how they rippled as they forced his body through the water. She was just getting used to seeing this much of him, when he rolled onto his back. Suddenly, she was seeing the front of his body! The nosebleed she'd only just stopped started up again. Her face was so red the blood on her lip blended into the tone of her skin. She'd never once dreamed she'd see this! Even with her Byakugan, which could see through things (such as clothes), the view wasn't this clear. Yet now, here she was, looking at his body in the sunlight, nothing covering him at all. She heard him chuckle and wondered what he was thinking about. If only she could talk to him, they could be swimming like that together! Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head at that thought, and the flow of blood from her nose increased a bit.

Naruto had always had very acute senses, particularly of smell and hearing, so when he began to hear something dripping, it didn't take him long to realize he was hearing Hinata's blood dripping onto the leaves at the bottom of the tree where she was sitting. His intention had been to embarrass the girl and possibly to make her leave and stop watching him, but it would seem something was wrong. Maybe she was hurt? He didn't want that. And maybe...maybe if he called her out, she would stop hiding...and...join him? Where in the world did he come up with that? He thought about it a moment and realized he would rather like to have her join him, though he still had no idea where the thought had originated.

"Hinata?" his voice rang out over the clearing, causing the shy girl to gasp in shock. He knew she was there? Had he known all along? No, that didn't make sense, if he'd known, why would he...unless...he wanted her to see him? No, why would he want that? He didn't like her...did he? That wouldn't make sense, but still...she wondered what he was going to say. Would he be angry for her watching him? Or would he... "Why don't you come down from that tree and join me?" Hinata pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. He really had asked her to come join him! She slowly slid down from the tree, her face red, her eyes full of hope and fear.

Naruto floated to the shore to wait for Hinata, who approached a moment later. He looked up at her, a little worried at her red face and the slight trail of blood coming from her nose. Was she hurt? No, she didn't seem to be. He gave her a gesture to get in with him. "I-I-I c-c-can't," Hinata stammered. "I d-don't h-have m-my swimsuit w-with m-me." He felt her eyes sweeping his body and noticed the blood from her nose increased slightly. Oh, ho! So she was perving for him was she? Oh, now, wasn't that just cute? Well, he'd just see about that!

Hinata blushed even redder than before as her thoughts became somewhat more dirty. How would it feel to touch his body, to feel him react to her touch? She knew what happened to a man's body when he was excited. What would it feel like to have him become hard under her touch? She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she almost didn't hear him. "No one's around, Hinata," he said. "Besides, I'm naked, so just strip down, come on in. No one will see you but me, and I can tell you want that anyway." She blushed even deeper, which Naruto hadn't thought was possible. He knew! She thought her feelings were well-hidden, yet in mere moments he had not only figured out that she was perving on him, but that she wanted him to feel the same for her! Hinata sat down as a wave of dizziness swept over her.

"A-All r-right, N-Naruto," she said. "I'll come in with you." Naruto grinned. He was going to get to see just what the shy girl was always hiding under that jacket of hers! He watched, his attention focused on Hinata, as she slowly removed her clothes. He felt like he was watching a professional strip-tease or something. He smiled at the thought, knowing Hinata was really just shy and unsure about doing this. Soon, her body was revealed to him. Naruto gasped. How the hell did she hide all that? She was more well-developed than most girls three years older than her! Yet he never noticed because of that jacket of hers. At this thought, he turned and glared at the offending piece of clothing. He realized, really, that her wearing it would mean only he had ever seen her like this, but he still harbored a slight grudge against it, since it had hidden her from him for so long. He looked at her again and felt not only his face getting hot, but a slight trickle of blood seeping from his nose. He gasped. He was perving for Hinata! He gulped. For some reason, he suddenly felt anxious, nervous, like she might reject him. Then Naruto thought about what he'd seen today. Hinata was perving for him, which, he concluded, was why she'd always followed him. And now he was perving for her...

"H-Hinata?" he said, his voice unsure. Hinata looked up at him, shocked to hear him stuttering. Could it be...she noticed he had a slight nosebleed and was staring at her body. She knew she got nosebleeds like that from seeing his body and from having those dirty thoughts about him...was he...? She blushed and smiled at him, giving him a gesture to go ahead with what he wanted to say. "C-Come on in," he said, blushing deeply as he realized she could think he was trying to proposition her by saying that. Hinata didn't say anything, just slowly slid into the water, grateful at least that her body would be hidden from view. She blushed as she thought of how Naruto had been eying her body. He had looked so...hungry? He'd looked like he wanted to never stop looking at her. And she was sure he had been having thoughts similar to her own about touching him. That look in his eyes, he was so...her thoughts trailed off into nothing as Naruto came to her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"N-Naruto?" she said, looking into his blue eyes; she could still see the hunger in them, the desire. Naruto was thinking at that moment of how her eyes, so like pearls, which he had always thought were cold as stone were actually so full of emotion and so expressive. He could see in her eyes that she had nothing but love for him and that his touch was making her excited, nervous, and aroused. She was aroused by him? That made no sense, why would...she was blushing again. He reached up and experimentally placed a hand on her cheek; he couldn't help being a little aroused himself by the deepening of her blush. He slowly moved closer to her, his eyes drifting closed.

Hinata gasped at his touch. She felt him moving closer and instinctively moved with him, closing her eyes as well when she saw him closing his. She put her arms slowly around his chest and linked her hands behind his back, her hands resting between his shoulder blades, and the two kissed, softly at first, then passionately. Hinata opened her eyes. Naruto looked surprised, but he didn't pull away, much to her delight. She gasped, but smiled, when he moved closer still, till their bodies were touching one another; she was surprised, but delighted, when she felt his arousal touching the inside of her leg. Hinata knew, at that moment, she would have been wet even if she hadn't been in the water. She blushed deeply; after all, she'd always been taught such things were disgraceful, dirty, and should never be allowed to happen, much less when in the company of another. Unfortunately for her, when it came to Naruto, she just couldn't help it.

Naruto smiled at Hinata's reaction to his touch and began to move his hands over her body. His hands stroked the pale flesh of her arms gently, squeezed her shoulders, rubbed her neck, all of which was incredibly erotic for the pale girl. He rubbed her back, his hands traveling over her bottom briefly. His hands explored her legs, down to her feet, then back up the inside to her core. By now, Hinata was so hot the skin on her whole body was turning red as her blood pumped fiercely through her. His hands were rough, yet so gentle...Hinata was glad at that moment she wasn't standing up on the ground, for if she had been, she felt certain her knees would have given out and she'd have fallen. Naruto continued his exploration of the girl's body, rubbing the back of her knees in an extremely erotic manner. Soon, his hands had traveled back up her body, stroking her belly gently and moving on to touch her breasts. Hinata gasped at this; it was the first time anyone else had touched them. She clung to Naruto to keep herself from falling underwater.

Naruto smiled as he felt Hinata cling to him. He had been exploring her body with his hands, finding it fascinating, and her reactions had only encouraged him. He'd been curious about her breasts for a while; they were different from his body, after all, and, unlike their other glaring difference, this was an addition. When he touched them and she grabbed him like that, it aroused him even more, and she seemed to be enjoying it as well. Naruto began to experiment, pinching Hinata's nipples and rubbing them between two fingers. She moaned softly, obviously loving it, so he leaned down and sucked on one gently; to put it lightly, Hinata was quivering from excitement at this. Naruto had just given one of Hinata's breasts a light nip when...

BEEP BEEP BEEP! Naruto sat up at the sound and blinked, looking around his small apartment in confusion. He groaned and gripped his head between his hands. It was a dream. What the hell was that all about? Naruto was about to stand up to get ready for his day when he felt a strange tugging sensation at the back of his neck, and the next thing he knew, he was back in the dream. Knowing now that it was in fact a dream, he decided to just go with it.

Hinata noticed that Naruto fell still for a moment, his teeth brushing her breast. The moment of stillness was incredibly erotic; her hard nipple was in Naruto's mouth, his teeth just touching her tender skin, and he had stopped moving. Why this was so erotic, she wasn't sure, but something about it was arousing her even more. Then he seemed to change slightly as his motion began again. He pulled her closer to himself. Her breasts were now somewhat squashed against him. The feel of his firm pecs against her soft breasts was making her feel slightly faint, but, for some reason, she was nowhere near fainting. Then Naruto did something that Hinata never expected. He bit her! Not hard at first, just enough for her to feel it; he had bitten her arm, just below the shoulder. It was so erotic, she couldn't help a moan escaping her lips. Her eyes closed, and her moan seemed to have excited Naruto, as he bit her again, a little harder, this time on her neck, which made her pant in her arousal. Then Naruto began to touch her again, his hands exploring every inch of her body as he nipped her neck over and over again, softly now, then harder, then softly again. She could hardly breathe by this point, she was so excited.

Naruto grinned at the girl in his arms. Everything he did just seemed to excite her more! This was certainly an amazing dream. Her body against his, so vivid he swore he could really feel it, her skin in his teeth, his tongue running over her skin, so vivid he knew he would taste it when he woke. Her scent, like lavender and lilacs, was so pervasive he would have been shocked to learn it wasn't on his body. He moved slowly underwater, nipping her neck, then down to her breasts, over her belly as he moved, and running his fingernails down her back slowly, applying slightly more force to them the lower he got. By the time he reached the small of her back, he was leaving slight scratches on her back.

Hinata gasped as she felt his teeth exploring her body. He seemed intent to taste her entire body before deciding what to do with her. Then she felt his nails on her back. When he got to the small of her back, she felt them scratching her just a little. She blushed deeper than ever and trembled from head to toe at the sensation. Naruto was marking her! He was marking her as his own; it was not only a mark of her being his, but a warning to all others to stay away from her! The very thought was enough to arouse her on a whole new level that she had never in her life felt. Then she felt something she'd never even dared to dream of before. Naruto kissed the lips of her vagina! He had been nipping her belly for some time as he scratched her back, then suddenly he kissed her there! She shivered; the water was cold, but this was a shiver of excitement. Moments after this, Naruto surfaced in front of her, a huge grin on his face.

Naruto was pleased with the way Hinata had reacted to his ministrations. He stood there for a moment, then got a surprise of his own. Hinata, in her excitement, forgot to be embarrassed and kissed him passionately, deeply. Naruto, surprised, couldn't think of anything to do but return it. He pulled back after a few moments, breathing heavily, very aroused himself now. Then Hinata said something that surprised him. "Naruto...oh, Naruto," she said softly. "How I wish this wasn't just a dream, that this was real. If only this was real, I could tell you how much I truly love you, how much I've wanted this with you and only you, and how I'll never want anyone but you." Naruto, needless to say, was stunned.

"H-Hinata," he said, a blush on his face now as her words excited him even more. "Do you really mean all that? I mean, not just in this dream, do you really mean it?" Hinata was a little taken aback by his question, but her dreams were always a bit weird when it came to Naruto (and she knew this had to be a dream by now; if not, she would have fainted several times over), so she simply smiled at him and nodded, her eyes locked with his. She knew her own eyes were filled with love and lust, and she saw the same things reflecting back to her in his eyes. Naruto pulled her against him, his erection pressing against her opening slightly, which of course aroused her all the more; she knew where this dream was going now; if there was any question before, there wasn't now. Then she heard Naruto speak again. "Remember this, Hinata, I need to know if this is real, so when you wake up, I want you to meet me at the building three doors east of Ichiraku's. If you're there, I'll know you dreamed this too; if not, I'll know it was only me." Hinata gasped. Was Naruto dreaming this, too? No, that made no sense, but from what he said...oh, but then...

"I can't," Hinata said. Naruto looked at her, worried. "I'm still in the hospital from the fight with Neji, remember?" she reminded him.

Naruto looked disappointed for a moment, then smiled his trademark grin. "Can I come visit you then?" he asked her. Hinata wasn't about to pass _that_ up. She nodded vigorously.

"I would love to have you come visit me, Naruto," she said. Naruto didn't answer that with words. Instead, he lifted her legs up so that she was floating on her back in the water. Naruto pulled her crotch to him and Hinata got a huge shock. He began to kiss and lick at her, like he was tasting her! Hinata moaned loudly, not worrying about being heard anymore, since she knew it was a dream. Then something happened that had never once happened in her dreams before: he slipped his tongue INTO her! Hinata felt like a huge explosion had gone off inside her at that. Naruto moved his tongue inside her, experimenting with this like he had everything so far. When her moans increased, he did that more, when they subsided, he tried other things. Granted, the latter case was rare, since everything he did seemed to make her moan.

Hinata was officially in shock now. Her body had ascended to a whole new level of pleasure she'd never even imagined possible before. As his tongue moved within her, she moaned and squirmed, her hands fisting in his gold hair, which she was surprised felt soft to her in spite of its constant spikes. He kept licking, making her moan louder and grip his hair harder. This seemed to just excite him more, as the harder she grabbed, the faster he moved. Using this to her advantage, she was almost ripping his hair out by its roots as he moved within her, which had him moving at speeds she wouldn't have believed possible had it not been happening to her. Hinata felt a pressure begin to build within her; as Naruto's tongue continued its motions within her, the pressure grew and grew. Then he hit a new spot and the pressure exploded out of her. What she didn't realize until moments later was that she had actually orgasmed, and her juices had spewed out onto Naruto's face. She looked down when he didn't do anything for a moment and was surprised to find him licking her juices off his face with a huge grin on his face.

Naruto was surprised when a surge of liquid literally gushed out of Hinata's body, but he was even more surprised to find the liquid, while sticky, was actually very sweet to the taste. When Hinata looked down at him, he just grinned to show her he was fine. The look on her face became extremely lustful again. Naruto's grin changed, becoming slightly more feral; so she wanted more, did she? Well, he certainly had plenty more to give! He pushed her lower body back below the water, kissing her deeply again. This time, for some reason, he licked her lips; Hinata opened for him, allowing his tongue into her mouth. She moaned deeply into the kiss as the taste of her juices in his mouth transferred to her. It was extremely erotic, tasting herself like that. Meanwhile, Naruto reached down and began to rub her vagina now. He slid his fingers into her, moving them in her much the same way he had his tongue before, experimenting, seeing what worked and what didn't. It was a little harder this time, since he was constantly kissing her, but he figured it out.

Hinata was surprised when he began to slide his fingers inside her, but this time she was more than willing to just let the sensation carry her away. Her body was so hyper-sensitive from his eating her (where that term came from she didn't know, but it seemed to fit, so she used it) that every time he touched her, her body sent waves of pleasure all over her. She was so overwhelmed from it all she orgasmed again after only a minute or so, spewing her juices again, this time into the water. Naruto seemed to know she had reached her climax, as he slid his fingers out of her and allowed her to rest for a few moments.

"Oh...my...god, Naruto," she panted. "That was...amazing." Naruto just grinned. He knew what he was going to do now; he didn't know why, but clearly having things...inside her, made Hinata have these sensations, and his body was aroused as well, which was causing him to be...well, erect, so, in his mind, it was only logical for him to put what his body was demanding be touched into her. It would serve both purposes, and this WAS only a dream after all, so why not? He pulled her to him again, a bit more wildly this time, and bit the hollow of her shoulder. Hinata gasped as this sent a wave of pleasure through her. She instinctively wrapped her legs around Naruto's waist, which brought her very wet opening down onto his erection. Naruto smiled at her and reached down to direct himself into her.

Hinata was still somewhat in shock from her first orgasm, never mind her second, but what happened next was a whole new level of feeling for her. His erection was sliding into her. It didn't hurt at first, since she was so wet, but then she felt it touch something in her that nothing before this had ever touched. He looked at her questioningly; she nodded her permission and Naruto thrust hard into her. She felt something in her tear, and she almost cried, but she clung to Naruto instead, biting his shoulder hard to keep from crying out. After a moment, she began to move her body, bringing him deeper into her and riding him slowly, then faster. She realized just then that she would feel that pain for real some day, but she didn't care just now as the pleasure of what they were doing overrode her pain from that initial thrust.

Naruto's eyes were rolling back in his head by now from the immense pleasure he was receiving from having Hinata's body contain him like this. He was barely able to stay standing so they didn't both end up falling underwater. Even if it was a dream, he didn't want to have that happen, at least not on accident. He knew it could be interesting if done on purpose, but he didn't want to have it happen on accident and one of them get hurt or drown, so he forced himself to remain standing. Hinata was grinding his body intensely, and he began to feel a distinct pressure building up inside him.

Hinata, by now, was feeling the pressure for a third time herself. She felt that the more she moved and the faster and deeper he was inside her, the better it felt and the closer she got to release, so she moved faster and faster. His erection was huge inside her, but it felt so right to her, like it always belonged there. She felt him touching the part inside her his tongue had touched before her first release, and she knew she would do so again very soon. Sure enough, a couple thrusts later, she did release.

Naruto felt her release, but then he got a shock. He'd thought her release would make her...well, looser around him. Instead, her vagina SQUEEZED him, not painfully, but like her body was demanding his release. This ignited a whole new level of pleasure in the blond, and, his eyes rolling back in his head, he gave her body what it wanted: he released into her, not once, but twice. Hinata seemed to love this feeling, so he just smiled at her. He had no idea he had caused her to release a fourth time instantly by doing that. The two, still smiling at one another, made their shaky way to the edge of the water and laid on the ground, Hinata on top of Naruto. The two laid there, comfortable in one another's arms, and slowly closed their eyes.

Naruto opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He was in his apartment, laying in bed, just as he'd known he would be. What in the world was that dream about? And why was his body reacting now the same way it had to Hinata's touch in the dream? Well, at least now it was receding, but even so, what in the world caused that? And why now was the image of Hinata's body, her perfect form, her smooth skin, her beautiful...wait, what? He always liked Sakura, why was he thinking of Hinata like that all of a sudden? He took a deep breath to try to clear his mind, then rose and began to go about his morning routine, glad that he didn't have anything to do today so he could try to find Iruka to ask about that weird dream.

Meanwhile, Hinata woke up at the same time Naruto did. She was heavily disappointed to find herself in her hospital bed. She'd known it was just a dream, but some part of her had hoped it was real. What Naruto had said...about them meeting...could it be? Was he somehow really in her dream? That made absolutely no sense, but the way he'd said that, with no thought of tact, with his only thought being that he didn't know an answer to something and he wanted it, was so like him...was so Naruto, that she just felt it was real somehow. She sighed at herself, already telling herself it wasn't real, that she was just a foolish girl for even believing Naruto would ever desire her like that. After all, he had Sakura, who was so much prettier than her, who didn't have these huge breasts (here she looked at hers with disdain), and who had those expressive green eyes, unlike her cold white ones. Why would Naruto want her, when all he really wanted was Sakura?

Naruto finished his morning routine. All throughout it, he'd been having a vague feeling of self-doubt. He had no idea where that had come from, but it was so out of the ordinary for him he had to question it. He had almost never doubted himself, and the few times he had it was for something specific, yet here it was just a general sense of not being good enough. Not good enough for what? He couldn't answer that, no matter how hard he tried. His work with the Summoning Jutsu had been slow as of late, but not so slow that he should be doubting his ability to pull it off eventually. He'd never once doubted he'd be Hokage some day, and he didn't doubt it now, so it wasn't that either. So why the hell was he feeling like that? He couldn't think of a single goal he had, long-term or short-term that he didn't feel certain he could accomplish...ugh, bloody confusion!

Hinata was still berating herself, telling herself she wasn't good enough for Naruto, when a feeling of overwhelming confusion struck her. She knew what she was thinking, how she wasn't good enough, so why was she suddenly confused? She shook her head, trying to clear it. Her feelings of inadequacy forgotten, she noticed the feeling of confusion passed after a moment. That was weird. It was almost like her dream was happening again...like she could sense Naruto's feelings or something. That made sense in a dream, but in real, waking life? Yeah, right! She ridiculed herself for a few moments, thinking it made no logical sense for that to happen. But at the same time, she couldn't just ignore these feelings she was having that she couldn't explain. Sighing, the shy girl laid back in her bed, trying to get comfortable so as not to aggravate her injuries. It was then that she noticed the inside of her thighs was soaked. She blushed deeply; she'd had this happen a time or two from her dreams, and considering her most recent one, she should have expected it. She was always embarrassed about those dreams; thankfully no one had ever seemed to notice that she was having them or how messy she got after some of them. Blushing deeply, she got up and made her way to the bathroom to clean herself up.

Naruto was on his way to find Iruka when he had a sense of overwhelming embarrassment. He wasn't as surprised this time as he had been with the feeling of not being good enough, so he just shrugged it off and kept going. He headed straight for the Academy first, figuring if Iruka wasn't teaching, he'd be there grading papers. His instincts turned out to be right on the money. Iruka was sitting there behind his desk, slaving over papers.

"Iruka-sensei?" he said, hesitantly. The scarred Chunin looked up and smiled at his favorite blond knucklehead.

"Ah, Naruto, come on in," he said. Naruto did so. Iruka gestured for him to sit down. Naruto did, his eyes betraying that he was nervous and embarrassed. "What's up, Naruto?"

"Um, Iruka-sensei, I wanted to talk to you about something. I had a really weird dream last night," Naruto started, his eyes everywhere but on Iruka.

Iruka chuckled. "Let me guess, it was about Sakura, right, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head vehemently, thinking if Sakura ever thought he'd had a dream like THAT about HER, she'd probably beat him within an inch of his life! "No, Iruka-sensei, not at all, Sakura wasn't even in it. It was about Hinata!" Naruto said, his voice betraying his confusion.

NOW Iruka was interested. "Hinata huh? Do tell, Naruto," he said. He had no idea what he was getting himself into...

Hinata, meanwhile, had gotten herself cleaned up without anyone coming into her room. It still caused her a little pain to move, but she wasn't in any serious danger, so she'd been given freedom to do mostly what she wanted. Today, she hadn't done much yet, seeing as she'd been having that dream and then, upon waking, dealing with the result, but she was short of breath and her heart hurt a little. She laid down to rest and think a while; after all, she didn't have much else to do. While laying there, Hinata couldn't help but think of her dream again, which made her suffer from wave after wave of embarrassment. Her face was constantly red with it, which caused her some slight pains to her heart as it beat harder to pump blood to her face. Hinata was only relieved that no one came in to find her like that; she didn't need THAT embarrassment.

Naruto had just finished telling Iruka about the dream, and now, as throughout the telling of the dream, he was blushing furiously; he didn't think he'd ever been so embarrassed in his whole life!

Iruka was honestly shocked at the degree of detail in Naruto's dream. "Well, Naruto," he said, not sure what to tell his student. "What do you suppose could have prompted you to dream like that of Hinata?"

Naruto pondered that. What could prompt him to dream like that of Hinata indeed? He could only think of one thing, so that's what he told Iruka. "Well, I've known for a long time that Hinata's been following me, stalking me, so to speak, then when I saw her at the preliminaries three weeks ago, fighting Neji, and how determined she was...I don't know, I guess it just made me realize there was more to her than the shy, quiet weirdo I always thought she was," he said, giving Iruka a small smile.

Iruka, meanwhile, was stunned. Naruto knew Hinata had been following him? Why hadn't he ever done anything about it then? Could it be he...liked her too? "Naruto, if you knew Hinata was following you, why didn't you ever say or do anything about it? I mean, you do know why she does that, don't you?" Iruka asked.

Naruto gave Iruka a confused look. "Well no, I just thought she was lonely or something, but it never bothered me, I liked having her around, and I didn't want to scare her off or anything, so I just let it be," Naruto said after a moment.

Iruka gasped. So Naruto had known Hinata was following him all along, didn't mind it, didn't want to scare her off, and so did nothing? And now he was having a dream about having sex with her? What the hell? Then Iruka had a thought. "Um, Naruto, the dream you had...you do know what that means, don't you?"

Naruto blushed deeply. "Well, no, I told you what we did in the dream, but...um...Iruka-sensei, what did we do? I mean, what was that?" he asked. He'd been dreading this moment ever since coming to Iruka, but at the same time, this was why he had come to begin with, he wanted to know what the hell they had done.

Okay, now it was official. Iruka was beyond stunned. He was completely and utterly dumbfounded. Naruto was having dreams about Hinata that clearly meant the boy liked the girl and he didn't even know what the dream WAS, never mind what it MEANT! "Um, Naruto, you said in the dream you asked Hinata if you could come see her in the hospital, right?" he said. Iruka knew he was using this as an escape of sorts, but he needed some time to figure out what he was going to tell Naruto, and this was likely the best way to get it.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I did, but what should I say to her? I don't even know if she'd really want me to come see her!" he said, shivering slightly at the thought of being unwanted. "I mean, it's not like I've ever really talked to her. What should I do, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but he was very very nervous, thinking about going to see the girl after that dream.

Iruka leaned forward and rested a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Go see her, Naruto. Don't say anything about the dream unless she does first, all right?" Naruto nodded at this. "I can tell you without a doubt Hinata would be flattered if you went to see her, dream or no dream," Iruka finished, smiling.

Naruto chuckled, some of his confidence returning. "Hey, that's right, who wouldn't want to see an awesome ninja like me? I'll be back later to finish that talk, all right, Iruka-sensei?" he said, then turned and took off to go see his shy friend. Iruka sighed; he was _not_ looking forward to seeing Naruto again, for once.

Hinata worried about Naruto for a long time. She was afraid he wouldn't come, but part of her was afraid he would come, too. She couldn't decide which was worse. He could come and tell her he didn't feel the way she'd told him she felt in the dream. He could come and she wouldn't know what to say to him. Or he just might not come at all, which would mean that dream last night was just another of her normal dreams about him, and he hadn't dreamed it at all. She sighed, her eyes falling to her lap, where her hands rested. Her hands, so small, so fragile, so like the rest of her. Weak, useless, the hands of a failure rested there. Oh, how she wished her hands were strong, like Naruto's. Maybe then her heart wouldn't be so weak, maybe then she'd be more confident. Did it all come back to his hands? No, she told herself, it couldn't be just his hands. He had the confidence in himself. She didn't move when the door to her room opened. She was too lost in her thoughts. Then she heard something she never imagined she would hear.

"Hey, H-Hinata," stammered a voice she'd know anywhere. Naruto! She looked up, a look of shock on her face. He was here, in her room, and...he was stammering like he was nervous about something? Naruto was never nervous. Why would he be now? She looked into his eyes and saw...he was nervous! She couldn't believe it. Naruto, the strongest, most confident person she'd ever met, was nervous!

"Oh, Naruto!" she said, surprise clear in her voice. Naruto looked at her and smiled, a little of his nervousness passing at her voice. He remembered how smooth her skin was and...no! He forced those thoughts from his head, but not before a slight blush touched his cheeks as he remembered the dream. Hinata saw him blushing. Was he...embarrassed? She was feeling a little embarrassed herself, but this felt...different from her normal embarrassment when he was around. It felt like...his? "Naruto, a-are y-you all r-right?" she asked. "You seem embarrassed about something."

Naruto looked at her and forced his embarrassment down. "I'm all right, Hinata," he said, still blushing. "Just remembering a dream I had last night, that's all."

Hinata gasped. Naturally, his words made the memories of her own dream flood her mind again. She blushed a deep red. Naruto was surprised when he...felt her embarrassment somehow. "Hinata...you're embarrassed now...aren't you?" he said, hesitantly. She looked up at him, her face clearly displaying surprise. "I...felt it, somehow," he said. "You felt mine a minute ago, too, didn't you?" She nodded. "What in the world is going on here?" he said, as much to himself as to Hinata.

Hinata thought about it a few moments, then somehow got the nerve to ask, "Naruto, your dream last night, what was it about?"

Naruto blushed deeply, but he could tell (feel?) that it had taken Hinata a lot of nerve to ask him that, so he felt like it would be cruel and wrong of him to not tell her. He started to tell her the dream.

Hinata began to blush slightly when he told her about how he had been swimming in the water, letting her see his body. She figured it was just a coincidence though. Then he talked about calling to her, her coming out, them skinny-dipping together, on and on. The more she heard, the more embarrassed she got and the less she thought it was a coincidence. Then came something she never thought she would hear. "Then you said that you wished it was real. You said, 'If only this was real, I could tell you how much I truly love you, how much I've wanted this with you and only you, and how I'll never want anyone but you.' Hinata, did you really mean all that?" he asked her, his eyes filled with worry, as if he was afraid she would reject him.

Hinata blushed deeply, knowing that this was the moment to finally confess to him, to tell him just how much he meant to her. She was embarrassed beyond belief, but she couldn't blame Naruto really. Naruto, for his part, was struggling with a bout of intense embarrassment that came from nowhere for him. He was worried Hinata would say no, but why would he be embarrassed? Yet he was. He didn't know, of course, that he had just put Hinata on the spot in a terrible way. The shy girl stammered, "Y-Y-Yes, Naruto, I did mean all of that." She looked up at him and saw a look of shock on his face. "I've always liked you, Naruto, and I've always dreamed of being with you."

Naruto reached over and took Hinata's hand gently in his. "I can't say that I feel the same way for you, Hinata," he said, honestly. "But if you'll give me time, to get to know you and to spend time with you, I'll see if maybe I can love you." That did it. Hinata fainted. Naruto almost panicked, but he had felt, just as she passed out, a feeling of intense happiness and embarrassment, so he knew, somehow, that Hinata was just overwhelmed, and, in the long run, she'd be fine. He sat back to wait for her to come to, a slight smile on his face. Naruto had a thought while he sat there. He created a clone and sent it to talk to Iruka-sensei while he waited for Hinata to wake up. Contrary to popular belief, he had figured out months ago that his Shadow Clones, upon dispelling, returned their memories to him; that's why he trained with them all the time.

The clone ran out of the hospital, glad to be out of that stuffy place. He took a deep breath of the fresh air outside, then grinned and ran off to find Iruka-sensei. He figured, correctly as it turned out, that his old teacher would still be where he'd left him earlier. He saw him sitting there still grading, and he couldn't suppress a small chuckle.

Iruka looked up at the small sound. He grinned, a little apprehensively, when he saw his favorite blond standing there. "Oh, hey, Naruto, what's up?" the teacher asked, his nervousness showing clearly in the forced smile on his face.

The clone grinned. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, the boss sent me to have that talk," he said. Iruka looked confused. "I'm a Shadow Clone."

Iruka looked surprised, then grinned. "Let me guess, the real one is still with Hinata, and he didn't want to leave, right?" he asked. The clone nodded. Iruka sighed. "All right, well, first, what have you figured out?"

"Well, that dream was real, somehow or another both the boss and Hinata dreamed the same thing," the clone answered. "But if you mean what we've figured out about what that dream was, nothing. He's been too busy talking to Hinata to really think about that."

Iruka sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Okay, what do you know about how babies are made?" he asked. The clone gave Iruka a look that said he should know the answer to that. In other words, nothing. Great, just great. Iruka sighed again. "Okay, Naruto, it doesn't seem like there's any easy way to say this, so I'm just going to be blunt about it. What you and Hinata did in your dream...well, that's sex. When two people do what you did in the dream, the girl can get pregnant and have a baby," he told the blond.

Naruto looked surprised, then blushed as he thought of something. "And...Hinata would know that, right?" he asked. Iruka nodded; they had been taught that in various classes, of course. Naruto had been left out of those, among others. "So...when she said she wanted that with me...she meant that she wanted babies...with me?"

Iruka thought a moment about how to answer that one. "Most likely, yes, but I'm sure Hinata doesn't want that _yet_," he said, emphasizing the last word to make sure Naruto got the point.

He did. "So she was saying she wants to be with me, not just now, but forever, and to have babies with me some day?" Naruto asked, his eyes full of hope and wonder at that concept.

Iruka smiled. This was happening much easier than he had thought it would. "Well, in a nutshell, yes," he said. Naruto's grin grew far wider and he began to whoop and holler about it, but Iruka quickly calmed him down. "Naruto, chill." Naruto did as he was told. "Hinata followed you all that time because she liked you, Naruto, just like she told you in your dream, and it became love over time as she watched you. The thing is, she's very shy, as I'm sure you've noticed, so she's never had the courage to talk to you or tell you how she felt before. So please, be careful how you talk to her about things, otherwise...well, she'll probably blush, panic, and faint a lot."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, the boss was talking to her before he sent me, and she fainted. He's staying there to wait for her to wake up," he said, reminding the Chunin that he was talking to a Shadow Clone. "Thanks for the advice, though, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka smiled. "Anything else you want to ask me, Naruto?" he asked. Naruto, surprising the teacher, actually fell silent and thought for several moments about his question. He seemed to be thinking more deeply than Iruka had ever seen the blond think.

"No, I don't think so," he said after a moment. "If the boss thinks of anything, I'm sure he'll be back." Iruka nodded to let the blond know he'd be there, and the clone made a hand sign and dispelled itself. Iruka chuckled at how realistic those clones were, then went back to his work.

xxxxxx

Naruto received the memories of his clone. He blushed deeply at the parts about babies and that and was half-tempted to faint himself at the thought that Hinata knew that and _still_ wanted that with him. Breathing deeply, he managed to stay awake, if only just. He sat back in his chair again, still waiting for Hinata to wake up. After that discussion with his old teacher, he had quite a lot to discuss with his shy friend once she did regain consciousness, that was for sure. He smiled. He was looking forward to this. He sighed; yes, he was looking forward to this, but at the same time, he hoped she wouldn't freak out too much. He did have a lot to tell her, after all.

Hinata slowly became aware of the rhythmic beeping of her heart monitor. She sighed mentally; it was just another dream. Another crazy, wonderful, hopeless dream, that's all it was. And here she'd thought that Naruto had actually come to visit her. She should know better, why would he ever come to visit a failure like her? She sighed, this time aloud, and that's when she got a surprise.

"Hinata?" a voice asked. That voice! She'd know it anywhere...Naruto! Her eyes snapped open, and sure enough, there he was, sitting in a chair not far from her hospital bed, looking at her. As she looked at him, the memory of their previous conversation came back to her. She remembered him talking about wanting to spend time with her and get to know her, then she'd fainted. She blushed deeply at the memory. "You all right, Hinata?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine, N-Naruto," she said back. She gave him a small smile to show she was all right. Naruto returned her smile slowly, causing the shy girl to blush deeply and her heart to speed up, as both could hear from her heart rate monitor. Hinata gasped and pressed a hand to her heart as the increase in pulse caused her some pain. Naruto, surprising both, did the same. He felt the pain as well. Hinata looked at him in concern. "Naruto? Are you all right?"

Naruto gasped; that pain was deeper than he expected. "I'll be fine, Hinata, I just wish I knew why this was happening," he said, his voice strained. After a couple of moments, the pain passed for them both. Naruto moved his chair closer to Hinata's bed and looked at her, a small smile on his face. Hinata, somehow comforted by his smile, leaned back against her bed, which was raised, and looked into his eyes. "Hinata," he said, his voice soft, "we need to talk about some things." Hinata, who had been smiling softly before that, didn't like the sound of that for some reason and her face fell. Naruto picked up on her worry and quickly reassured her. "Don't worry, Hinata, it's nothing bad, there's just some things I need to tell you, and, I think, some things you need to tell me."

Hinata blushed deeply. "Oh, okay, Naruto," she said. "What is it you had in mind?" She was almost afraid to ask that, but mostly she was just glad that Naruto was really here, that he was really talking to her, and that he was actually taking the time to not only tell her things about himself but that he wanted to listen to her talk about herself as well, even if the latter prospect did make her nervous.

Naruto was almost shaking he was so nervous. He wondered to himself why he was so worried about this. Getting frustrated with himself for being so nervous, he decided to just say it. "Well, first off, I wanted to know why you always followed me; I think I know, but I want to know for sure," he blurted, then looked away from Hinata, blushing deeply.

Hinata blushed in return. "W-Well, Naruto, you said you h-had that d-dream I had last night, right?" He nodded, wondering what she was getting at with this. "I told you in th-the dream why I f-follow you," she said, her face resembling flaming hot steel in color. Naruto looked at her, part confused, part hoping she would say what he thought she would. When she realized Naruto wasn't sure what she meant, Hinata looked up at him and, blushing deeply, whispered, "I love you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled, then leaned forward and took Hinata's hand in his gently. "That's not what I meant, Hinata," he said softly. "As you said, you told me that in the dream. What I mean is why didn't you ever come to me, talk to me?"

Hinata's blush had receded slightly, but it returned full-force at his touch. "I was just so worried, Naruto," she answered, almost whispering so she wouldn't stutter. "I was afraid you would reject me or that I would be a burden to you. I don't ever want to hold you back from anything, and I just couldn't get up the nerve to talk to you, that's all." Naruto could feel the sincerity in her words along with the deep desire to help him. The two were getting used to feeling what the other felt like this, even if it was a little weird. Just goes to show that people can get used to anything.

"You want to help me, Hinata?" he asked her. Hinata blushed at being caught in her thoughts, but nodded. "You're the first to ever want that, and I know you believe in me, and that's something else that you're the first to do. Just from that, Hinata, you are precious to me, and you will never hold me back."

"But, Naruto, your dream is to be Hokage," she said softly. "What if being with me somehow meant that you couldn't attain your dream?" This was, in fact, one of her deepest fears, as Naruto realized as she said it. She was afraid both that if that happened he would leave her and that he wouldn't and would give up his dream because of her.

"Hinata," Naruto said softly. "The truth is, I have two dreams, being Hokage is only one. My other dream is to get married, have a family, and show my family the happiness I never had as a child." His hand, still in Hinata's, shook as he realized he was telling her one of his most closely-guarded secrets.

Hinata blushed, realizing what he was telling her. "And...that dream..." she gulped deeply. "I could even...help you...attain it." Naruto looked up at the shy girl and nodded, a small smile on his face. Hinata smiled back. "Then...if things work with us...I will help you attain it," Hinata said, her voice barely a whisper.

Naruto smiled. He reached over and cupped her cheeks in his hands. No more words were necessary for them. They leaned toward one another slowly, Hinata's heart beating faster, harder, in both nervousness and excitement. Her heart hurt, but she'd never been happier. They came closer to one another, their eyes slowly closing, much as they had in the dream. Naruto smiled briefly, then moved the last few inches and kissed Hinata's lips gently, sweetly. Hinata responded, her mouth moving to fit his perfectly. The two kissed for several moments, then pulled apart, both blushing and smiling.

Naruto was the first to speak, his voice quiet, reverent. "That was...better than the dream," he said. Hinata blushed deeper still but kept smiling.

"Oh, Naruto, what else did you want to talk about?" she asked him then.

Naruto blinked, having totally forgotten about that. "Oh," he said, hesitating. "Well, Hinata..." he trailed off, blushing. She squeezed his hand, which reassured him somehow. "What we did in the dream...do you know...what it was?" Hinata blushed deeper than ever and nodded. She did know, after all. "And you know...what could happen...if we really did that?" Hinata's blush, which Naruto thought couldn't get any deeper, deepened. She nodded again. "So...when you said that you wanted that with me...you meant you wanted to always be with me...and to...have babies...with me...some day?"

Hinata panicked a moment. _"Don't faint, don't faint, DO NOT FAINT!" _she repeated to herself. "Y-Y-Yes, Naruto, I do," she said, after a moment. "I've w-wanted that f-f-for a l-long t-time."

Naruto looked at her with a blush and a smile, but, before he could say any more, some nurses came into the room and told him he had to go as visiting hours were over. He nodded and they left to give him time to say goodbye. Hinata's blush had receded in the meantime."I'll be back to see you tomorrow, okay, Hinata?" he asked her. She blushed again and nodded. "I have training in the morning with Pervy Sage, but I'll come see you after that." Hinata nodded again. Naruto then surprised them both by leaning in and kissing Hinata on the cheek, much to her embarrassment and delight, before leaving.

Naruto left and went home and straight to bed; he had a big day the next day after all. As Naruto closed his eyes, his thoughts drifted to Hinata, who, at that same moment was also closing her eyes and thinking of Naruto. The two, their thoughts on one another, drifted into sleep at the same time, never imagining that they would once again meet in their dreams.


	2. Secret Exchange

Chapter 2

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Recognizing where he was, he groaned. He hated it when this happened. The room he found himself occupying had open pipes running along the ceiling, water on the floor, and a huge cage directly in front of him. He was in his mindscape; specifically, he was just in front of the seal that held the Kyubi. It was rare for his dreams to bring him here, but it did happen once in a while, and it was always annoying. Naruto sighed deeply. And here he was hoping maybe he'd meet Hinata in his dream again. He was about to go see what the fox wanted when he saw something that made his heart stop.

Hinata was sitting against the wall not far from the cage that was the seal. As Naruto looked at her, she was just opening her eyes. Hinata looked around, confused, and she didn't seem to see Naruto at first. Naruto felt bad for the girl, but he had to admit to himself she was adorable waking up like that. Naruto smiled and took a step forward.

Hinata saw him. "Naruto? Where are we?" she asked. Naruto sighed. Why did she always have to ask the hardest questions?

Trying his best to smile so Hinata wouldn't be afraid, Naruto answered, "We're in my mindscape. I was afraid this might happen. I hope you can still accept me after what you see here tonight, Hinata." That said, Naruto moved over to stand between Hinata and the cage. Hinata could just barely see the bars behind Naruto. "Show yourself," she heard him whisper seconds before she got the biggest shock of her life.

A huge fox head became visible behind the bars, followed by the rest of its body and nine tails. Hinata eeped and stumbled backward a bit. Naruto lowered his eyes, not wanting to see the looks of fear, rejection, hatred, and anger he was sure Hinata would turn on him. Hinata felt his fear and took a step toward him. She was afraid of the fox, yes, but she was more afraid of Naruto being upset or turning away from her than she was of the beast.

Reaching out, Hinata cupped Naruto's chin in one hand and forced his eyes up to hers. She smiled and looked into his eyes. Naruto was surprised to find nothing but love reflected on him in her eyes. He could even _feel_ her love for him in that moment. He had to smile; this was certainly reassuring. Naruto pulled Hinata into his arms and held her. Hinata, surprised, couldn't do anything but return it. The Kyubi was _not_ amused. From behind Naruto, both youngsters heard the huge fox snarling.

Reluctantly, Naruto took his arms from around Hinata and turned to look at the fox. Hinata, surprising both of them, linked her arm with his. Naruto smiled at her. She just looked up at him, a small smile on her face. Not a word was spoken between them throughout, but the message was heard loud and clear. Naruto knew Hinata was there for him, that she would help him, and that, given the choice, she would face every enemy he had, now and forever, at his side. As for Hinata, she couldn't help but smile when she felt the fierce protectiveness Naruto was feeling for her. Both turned and glared at the Kyubi.

Kyubi leaned down and laid his head on the "ground" of his cage. Turning his gaze upon the two preteens in front of him, he gave a feral grin. **"You intend to protect this one, eh, kit?"** he said to Naruto. Naruto simply gave the fox a determined glare and squeezed Hinata's arm, eliciting a second "eep" from the girl. **"Well, you do realize you'll need my power to protect her, don't you? After ****all, what can you do on your own? You couldn't even master that Summoning Jutsu on your own, and you would have died without me!"**

Naruto gave a snarl, then nodded slightly. "Yeah, maybe so, but you know what? It wasn't you that defeated that snake in the Forest of Death. That was ME! AND I did that after the stupid thing ATE me! I don't need your help you stupid fox, but you'll still give me your chakra when I want it, as I said before, you owe me rent for being in my body!"

Hinata would later swear she saw the fox raise an eyebrow at the boy, who seemingly was trying to stare the fox down. Then something neither Naruto nor Hinata ever expected happened. The fox looked away! Naruto had actually stared the Kyubi down! Naruto grinned. Kyubi commented, **"All right, kit, I'll give you my chakra, just hope you can control it."** Chuckling, the fox curled into a ball and seemingly went to sleep.

Turning to Hinata, Naruto gave a small smile. Hinata felt her heart flutter as he did; it was a sincere smile, which always made her melt when it came from him. She smiled back. "Well, Hinata, now you know my deepest secret," Naruto said, gesturing at the cage behind him. Hinata just smiled. "So, what's yours?"

Hinata gasped. Naruto wanted to know about her? This was a dream come true! Oh, but he would have to ask _that_ wouldn't he? Her deepest secret. Well, other than her feelings for him (which she was just not ready to tell him about yet), there was only one thing. "I'm...afraid of bears," she said.

Naruto gave a small smile. He wanted to laugh, but something told him doing so would hurt the girl's feelings. "Bears, huh?" he asked. Hinata just nodded.

Naruto came over and wrapped his arms around her gently. Hinata looked up in surprise. "Naruto?"

"I'll protect you, Hinata," he said. "You don't have to be afraid of anything as long as I'm here. I promise." Hinata smiled and blushed deeply, then wrapped her arms around Naruto and buried her face in his chest. She knew if Naruto promised to protect her, he'd do it. Between that and being in his arms like she was, Hinata had never felt safer in her life than she did at that precise moment, which was rather ironic really, considering the proximity of the Kyubi.

Naruto was surprised at how at peace and how relaxed he felt holding onto Hinata like he was. He felt like he had finally found something he'd been looking for for years without ever knowing what it was. He smiled, deciding to simply relax and enjoy the feelings he was experiencing, many of them for the first time in his life. Hinata, sensing how Naruto was feeling at that moment, had to fight with all her being not to faint as she realized Naruto was beginning to _love_ her!

Hinata reluctantly pulled away from Naruto and moved to the wall where she had been sitting when she "awoke". She sat against it and gestured for Naruto to come with her. He came over in front of her and sat down as well. The two sat together in companionable silence for a short time, then Naruto, who had been thinking about how he was feeling for the shy girl in front of him, decided to talk to her about it.

"Hinata?" he said, his voice hesitant. Hinata smiled at him and nodded for him to continue. "I was just thinking. This feeling I'm having...I've never had it before. I was kind of hoping maybe you could help me understand what it is."

Hinata blushed. "I'll d-do my best, Naruto," she said, her eyes sincere. Naruto couldn't help but give her a smile at that. "What is it that you're feeling?" She thought she knew, but still, better safe than sorry.

"Well, when I look at you, I want to smile. When I think of you, my heartbeat quickens. When you smile, my heart jumps and I can't help but smile back. When you're hurt, I want to destroy the one who hurt you. When you're scared, I want to take you in my arms and hold you until you're not afraid anymore. And when you're in my arms, I feel more at peace, more complete, than I ever have in my entire life," Naruto said, not bothering to stop and think about what he was saying, he was just saying the things he'd been thinking of before he'd spoken. He looked at Hinata and was surprised to find her blushing furiously, obviously embarrassed if the feeling he got from her was anything to go by, and tears filling her eyes. "Hinata? What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, Naruto, not at all, I'm just happy, that's all," she said.

The blond pondered that a moment. "So you know what it is I'm feeling?" he asked. His eyes were so full of hope it made Hinata's heart swell to know she could help him...and, in a way, herself as well.

"Of course I do, Naruto," she said, blushing again. "Everything you just said...that's how I feel about you, it's how I've felt for a long time."

"So...what is it?" he asked, blushing, his voice somewhat afraid.

Hinata blushed, then pushed herself off the wall, and, wondering to herself as she did when she got so nervy, planted herself on Naruto's lap. Naruto was surprised, but he didn't push her away; as surprising as this was, he was far from averse to it. Hinata leaned up and whispered into Naruto's ear, "It's love, Naruto."

Naruto was surprised. He looked at the girl in his lap and gave a hesitant smile. "So, these things I'm feeling...they mean that...I love you?" he asked. Hinata blushed furiously and thanked every god ever that this was a dream; if it wasn't, she knew she'd have fainted just then. She slowly nodded. Naruto pulled her to him, his arms around her, and whispered into her ear, "Then I guess I love you, Hinata."

Hinata put her arms around Naruto's neck and whispered back, "I love you, too, Naruto." Naruto shivered; in that moment, he realized that every dream he'd ever had, to be accepted, to be loved, to be seen, every single one was made real in the form of the girl on his lap. He smiled, then buried his face into her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her more tightly. Hinata blushed yet again, then held Naruto tightly. Both of them slowly closed their eyes.

Upon opening their eyes, Naruto and Hinata were both surprised and more than a little disappointed to find themselves awake, Naruto in his bed in his apartment, Hinata in her hospital bed. It was only remembering that the dream they had just had was real, not just a dream, that allowed the two to not be too disappointed.

Naruto heard Hinata's words in his ear again and smiled. "I love you, Hinata," he whispered, trying out the words. It felt right, and it felt good to say it. He focused on his love, as he now knew it to be. He felt Hinata's resulting embarrassment as she felt his love and chuckled to himself. Then he felt her return her own love and sighed deeply; it felt _so _good to have someone feel that way for him. With a smile, the blond began his morning routine; he had training today, after all, so he'd better get ready.

Hinata smiled as she concentrated on letting Naruto feel her love for him. She felt his happiness in return and blushed slightly. _"He said he loves me!"_ she thought to herself. _"He really said that. This is the happiest day of my life!"_ As she was thinking this, a medical ninja entered her room.

"Ah, Lady Hinata," the medic said, smiling. "You're awake. I'm so glad you're not like most of our patients, it's so easy to get you to rest."

Hinata blushed slightly. "I find that my sleep is very pleasant these days," she said, hoping the ninja wouldn't question her. She sighed in relief when her comment was taken at face value and she was left alone again.

She laid back down in her bed, hoping Naruto would come visit her that day; she wanted to talk to him about their dreams and try to figure out what had happened to cause this. On the other hand, she didn't want to distract him from training, so she just relaxed, letting her body rest and hoping he'd come see her of his own accord.

Hinata eventually dozed off, to her surprise. When she awoke, she found that it was almost dinnertime. Sitting in a chair along the wall of her room was Naruto. "Oh, Naruto!" she said, surprised to find him there.

Naruto looked up at her voice. "Oh, hey, Hinata," he said, smiling. "I'm glad you're awake."

Hinata blushed. "Have you been waiting long?" she asked. Naruto shook his head. "Oh good. How was your training with Master Jiraiya?"

Naruto chuckled. "It was fine. Here," he said, pulling a small container from behind his back. Hinata was surprised to find it filled with cookies. Naruto took the lid off, and she saw they were oatmeal cookies and had an odd brownish tinge to them. "I made these myself," Naruto said.

Hinata blushed deeper. "Oh, did you make them for me?" she asked.

Naruto nodded, then pulled something else from behind him. A bouquet of flowers! He put them in a vase on her stand and smiled. "I got these for you, too," he told her. Hinata looked at the bouquet closely, blushing again as she noticed a single cactus flower near the bottom of it. Then again, given the first dream they shared, that one shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

Hinata took a cookie. "Thank you, Naruto," she said. She nibbled at the cookie. Surprisingly, the cookie was the best she'd ever tasted! She greedily ate the first one and reached for a second.

Naruto smiled. "That good, huh?" he said, a foxy grin on his face. Hinata blushed, then nodded and ate her second cookie, much more slowly than the first, but still rather quick. "I'm glad you like them, Hinata."

"Where did you get the recipe for these?" she asked.

Naruto chuckled. "I went to talk to Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, and Pervy Sage to ask what I should get for you. I got a recipe for cinnamon rolls from Kurenai-sensei and one for cookies from Kakashi-sensei. I combined the two, more or less, and got these," he said. "I was hoping they'd turn out well." At that, he took one himself, and less than ten minutes later, the cookies were gone.

Silence reigned for several moments. Hinata looked at Naruto. "I'm glad you're here, Naruto, actually. I wanted to talk to you about the dreams we've been having and all that," she said.

Naruto stood up, an odd grin plastered on his face.


	3. A New Beginning

Chapter 3

As Naruto rose from his chair, grinning oddly, Hinata realized that for some reason she was aroused. She hadn't been thinking about that, nor had the two been doing anything that would account for it, obviously, but she was still turned on for some reason. Naruto made his way to her bed and sat down at its foot. Hinata had been laying back, but now she sat up somewhat so she and Naruto could look into one another's eyes more easily.

Naruto reached over and cupped Hinata's cheek with one hand, smiling at her, his eyes full of love for the dark-haired girl in front of him. Leaning toward her, Naruto pulled her toward him at the same time, and the two met in the middle in a sweet kiss. Neither intended it, really, but soon enough the sweet kiss had turned into a much more passionate one. Hinata found herself laying down again, and Naruto was more or less on top of her, kissing her ravenously.

Naruto was surprised to feel Hinata's heart speeding up, and he could somehow feel that she was aroused, both before and, even more so, by what he was doing. Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, kissing him deeply, her body pressing against his, and felt his arousal and love. She blushed at that thought, which of course made her heart speed up again. Naruto's hands were starting to explore Hinata's body, as they had in the dream, when suddenly both felt a searing pain in their chest.

Hinata gasped, and Naruto pulled away quickly, the two gasping and holding their hands over their chests. "What...is this, Hinata?" Naruto asked after a moment.

Hinata gasped again, then, her heart finally slowing down, the pain receded. Hinata took a deep breath, then answered, "I'm sorry Naruto. My heart isn't fully healed yet, and...what we were doing just now, made my heart hurt."

Naruto blushed a little as he realized what he'd been doing; he'd been going to try to have sex with Hinata, right there in her hospital bed! "I'm sorry, Hinata," he said.

Hinata blushed when she realized what he was saying sorry for, but she simply nodded to tell him she accepted his apology. "Don't worry about it," she said after a moment. "I want it, too, I just can't with my heart the way it is right now." Naruto smiled at her words, feeling his guilt subside.

After thinking a moment, Naruto pulled Hinata onto his lap and held her close, his arms around her gently. "We'll wait until the time is right," he whispered to her. Hinata blushed, then snuggled into his chest slightly. Both were glad when they felt their arousal fade, despite their current proximity to one another. Suddenly, Naruto had a thought. "What in the world made us get like that?"

Hinata thought a moment, then realized he had a point; their simultaneous arousal had come seemingly from nowhere. Then she remembered something. "You said you got that cookie recipe from Kakashi-sensei, right?" Naruto nodded. "And combined it with Kurenai-sensei's cinnamon roll recipe..." Hinata thought a moment, then continued, "What all did you put into those cookies, Naruto?"

Naruto listed off the recipe he'd used (he'd memorized it so he could make them again if he wanted to), and Hinata didn't notice anything unusual. He did mention he'd mixed the milk and sugar together and heated them over a slow heat, which seemed odd, but she didn't think anything of it. He said that doing that had caused it to turn an odd brown color and to thicken somewhat; she guessed that's where the cookies had gotten that odd brown tinge. Well, that and the cinnamon he'd also mentioned, anyway.

Hinata shrugged. "Oh well, it's not like it matters that much anyway," she said after a moment. She cuddled up to Naruto again, then suddenly remembered: the dreams! She pulled away somewhat and looked up at the blond. "Naruto, I just remembered. The dreams we've been having...what could have caused that?"

Naruto looked at her thoughtfully a moment. "I've been thinking about that, too," he told her. "And I really don't know. I mean, I know I was really worried about you after your fight with Neji, and even more so after I heard you were in a coma...that reminds me, when did you wake up from your coma?"

Hinata thought about it. "The day before the first dream," she said, blushing slightly as she remembered what they did in _that_ dream. She looked up at Naruto in surprise as she realized what she'd said. "You think the coma had something to do with it?"

Naruto looked thoughtful a moment, then, "No, I don't think so, but it is curious that we had the first one the day you woke up from the coma you'd been in since that fight." Hinata nodded, then was surprised when Naruto got a far-off look in his eye for a few moments. She almost said something, but then he suddenly focused on her again and gave a grin. "Sorry about that, Hinata, the furball wanted to talk." She giggled at his nickname for the fox, then looked up curiously; Naruto could tell she wanted to know what Kyubi wanted. "He said that the bond we have now is what is called a blood bond."

Hinata thought about that. "A blood bond? I've heard of that, I think...yeah, there was something I read a while back in an old clan record about it, but doesn't it only happen when one of the two people makes a vow on the other's blood?"

Naruto looked shocked at that, then simply said, "Oh." He wasn't going to say any more, but he got a sudden sense of worry and realized Hinata was scared of what he'd done. "When you were hurt so badly by Neji, I...kind of made a vow on your blood." Hinata gasped. She was extremely curious _why_ Naruto would do that, but she was also kind of afraid to ask. Apparently, though, Naruto felt her curiosity and answered her unspoken question. "I vowed to beat him...to avenge you. And then, when we drew lots for the finals...well, I'm facing him in the first round."

Hinata giggled. "Who would have thought me getting beat like that would lead to me having the one thing I always wanted?" she said, mostly to herself. Realizing the question was mostly rhetorical, Naruto only responded by pulling her closer to him and kissing her cheek. Hinata blushed slightly at the touch, then smiled at him again. "Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto was confused by her comment. "For what, Hinata?" he asked her.

Hinata smiled at his honest confusion. She had to restrain a slight laugh as she thought about how sweet and yet how clueless the blond could be. "Well, for giving me a chance, for one thing," she said. "For making that vow. For making it so we could be like this...for everything, really."

Naruto just chuckled. "You earned the chance, Hinata," he said back. "As for the vow, I was so mad I couldn't think straight, but I'm glad I made it now. The bond...I get the feeling it's going to do us both a lot of good, so there's no need to thank me for that...we'll just have to be really careful or it could cause problems, that's all."

Hinata smiled and looked into Naruto's eyes. She could see that he was thinking of something in his past. She focused on his eyes and their bond, and, suddenly, she found herself watching a fight he'd been in. The fight with Kiba, specifically. She saw him landing the final blow, knocking Kiba out. She saw it more or less from Naruto's perspective, which was odd, but then she heard her own voice saying "That was amazing." very softly moments before Sakura's loud one said the same thing. Blinking, she looked at Naruto again. "You heard me?"

Naruto shook his head, seeming to only then remember where he was. He thought about what Hinata had said. "Wait...you saw what I was remembering?" Hinata blushed and nodded. "Yeah, I heard you," he said ruefully. "You even spoke up before my own teammate, just like I figured you would." Hinata looked confused, then Naruto seemed to get an idea. "Try it again, I want to show you something." Naruto's eyes filled with memory again, and Hinata did the same thing as before, focused on their bond, and, sure enough, she found herself seeing Naruto's memory again. This time, it was a more faded memory, like it was from a long time ago. After a moment, she gasped; she recognized this day: it was the first time she'd ever followed Naruto! Suddenly, she heard Naruto's voice. "Hinata, this day, you remember it, don't you?"

Hinata took a deep breath. "How could I forget it?" she asked back. She put her own memory to work, and the memory, previously faded, became somewhat more vivid, as if their memories of the day were combining. She was still seeing things from Naruto's perspective, but she had a feeling he was seeing things from hers as well. Realizing that, she tried to pull back, but then she felt Naruto's hand on her arm, comforting her.

"Relax, Hinata, I'm not seeing anything I didn't already know," he said. Hinata wondered what he meant by that. "You'll see." As Hinata watched, Naruto trained, throwing kunai at a tree over and over, then shuriken, then, retrieving all of those, punching it, then kicking it. At one point, she found herself doing a backward flip after a particularly high kick; she remembered admiring Naruto's agility as he kept his feet after such a move. She was surprised, however, to suddenly see _herself_ in the course of that flip. It was only for a fleeting moment, but she _noticed_ that she was there.

Hinata blushed. "So...you knew all along I was there?" she asked Naruto as the two came back to themselves from the memory. Naruto nodded. "Then...why didn't you ever say anything to me about it? I would have stopped..." she trailed off, sliding herself off Naruto's lap and looking away as she did.

Naruto chuckled. "That's why I never said anything. I didn't want you to stop," he said. Hinata looked up at him, surprised. "I liked having you there, watching me. You know, I'm sure, that I grew up alone, no parents, no siblings or anything like that. So I was always on my own, never had anyone to see me, to watch me, to know anything I did. Then you showed up that day and you watched, you saw. Your presence was so comforting to me...it gave me strength to keep going on some days when I would have much rather given up."

"You didn't give up...because of me?" she asked after a moment.

Naruto chuckled and nodded. "You have no idea how much I missed having you watching me when my team went to the Land of Waves. I kept looking into the trees, half-expecting to see you there...but you never were," he said. Hinata rested a hand on his arm, comforting him this time. After a moment, he smiled. "But hey, now you don't have to stalk me anymore." Naruto chuckled again when his words made Hinata blush. "You can watch me any time you want."

Hinata looked up at him. "You mean it, Naruto?" she asked.

Naruto leaned in closer to her and whispered in her ear, "Unless you'd rather join me." Hinata shivered. His breath on her ear, the reminder of their first shared dream, how close he was, all combined to make the moment very erotic to her. Then Naruto got a rather serious look on his face. "Really, Hinata, you have no idea how much strength I took from you being there, seeing me." Hinata looked at him, her curiosity and surprise written all over her face; Naruto didn't need their bond to tell him she didn't know what he meant. "I was a failure. I couldn't do anything right. Everything I did turned out wrong. Hell, you remember all the times I tried, and failed, to make even a single clone! Yet...you never left, you were always there, you watched, you saw, you knew how hard I tried. All of that together...well, it gave me such strength, such determination, to show you that I wasn't a failure, that I could do things right."

Hinata thought about that, then told him, "You were never a failure in my eyes, Naruto. You had the guts to get back up, to keep trying, even when you did fail. That determination, that strength of will...it's what drew me to you, and it always made you...a proud failure, I guess you could say, from my point of view. And then, when you finally did graduate, I saw how happy you were, and it made me happy for you, too. I remember you telling Shikamaru off when he questioned your right to be there that day. I don't think I've ever been prouder of anyone than I was of you at that moment; it was a small thing, yes, but that's when I realized you really had graduated, and I was so proud of you for that. I felt like...like even a failure like me...could do great things if I really tried."

Naruto looked at Hinata, then smiled. "Thanks, Hinata," he said. "I needed to hear that. I'm glad you saw me for what I really am. But what do you mean a failure like you? You're not a failure!"

Hinata gasped at the vehemence of his last statement. "Actually, Naruto, I am. I always lose in spars against my sister, five years younger than me, I always lose against Neji, who is in the lower branch of the clan, hell, I doubt I could even beat you, and, no offense, to my clan, you're a nobody," she told him. "And those things...make me a failure in the eyes of my clan." She lowered her gaze to her lap.

Hinata was surprised when Naruto put his hands on her shoulders. Gasping, she looked up into his eyes. "Hinata, let me tell you something Iruka-sensei told me once, years ago. He said, 'You never fail until you stop trying.' Have you ever stopped trying? Have you stopped sparring with your sister, or with Neji? Did you back down from Neji when he told you you couldn't win? Would you not try to win against me in a spar, even if you thought it was hopeless?" Hinata thought a moment, then slowly shook her head. "Exactly! You never back down, you never stop trying, you haven't stopped even now, with your heart in such bad shape. Hell, if you had stopped trying, I doubt I'd even be here right now, because you wouldn't have said what you did in that first dream, you'd have felt like it wouldn't matter and not bothered." Hinata blushed at his comment about their first dream. She was surprised Naruto would say all of this about her, but, as it turned out, the blond wasn't done yet. "Hinata, you say that my determination is what drew you to me, well, you have as much determination as I do, you're just not as loud and out-spoken about it. If your clan doesn't see that in you, if they don't see how strong you really are, that's their fault, not yours. And don't ever let anyone else tell you you're a failure either. The only one who can decide whether you failed or succeeded...is you." That said, the blond pulled back and sat up, looking at the girl with a small smile on his face. "And the only one who can say _when_ you have either failed or succeeded is you."

Hinata let the boy's words sink in a moment, then turned a smile on him. It was the first heart-felt smile she'd had in a while. "Thank you, Naruto...you're right," she said. "From now on, I am no failure, and neither are you, because we have each other, and together, we can do anything!"

Naruto had to laugh at that. "Damn right!" he answered.

Smiling up at Naruto, Hinata laid back down. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I'm really tired. I think I'm going to try to take a nap."

Naruto leaned down and kissed her cheek, then smiled at her. "All right. I've got a bit more training to get in today, anyway, so I'll see you in our dream tonight, I hope," he said, smiling when she blushed again. She nodded; she hoped she'd see him too. Naruto got up from the foot of her bed and was headed out of her room when he stopped and turned to her. "Oh, Hinata?" he said. Hinata smiled tiredly and nodded. "I love you."

Hinata blushed at his words; it was the first time she'd heard it spoken aloud while she was awake after all. She smiled. "I love you, too," she answered.

Naruto thought about that a moment, then decided to ask, "So, does this mean we're a couple then?"

Hinata gasped and looked up at him. "Do you want us to be?" she asked. Naruto nodded. "Then we are. Just...let's not tell anyone for a while, okay?" Naruto nodded again, and then he was gone.

Maybe it was just puppy love then, but the newest couple in Konoha embarked that day on an adventure that would last the rest of their lives...and one they would face together, for better or for worse.


	4. Reforming Old Bonds

Chapter 4

Naruto sighed deeply. The blond might love training, but there was nothing he hated more than useless training. For the last few days, ever since he'd finally summoned the Chief Toad, he'd felt like his training with the Pervy Sage was going nowhere! His frustration was growing, but then he felt a small voice in his mind telling him to stick with it. He smiled briefly. _"Thanks, Hinata,"_ he thought.

Jiraiya saw his godson seeming frustrated, then was surprised when the boy suddenly smiled. _"What was that?"_ he wondered to himself. _"He must be thinking about that Hyuga girl he's been hanging out with so much lately."_ Turning to the blond, he decided it'd be more fun to needle him than to just sit there doing nothing, which was what he'd been doing for a while now, since the girls who had been supplying him research material had left. "You've been spending a lot of time in the hospital lately," he commented, trying to seem disinterested. He chuckled to himself when the blond stiffened. "Yeah, I know all about your visits to the Hyuga girl. I think Naruto's got himself a little _girlfriend."_

Naruto sighed again. _"He would know about that, wouldn't he? Freaking Pervy Sage!"_ he thought in frustration. Naruto sat down and let his gaze drop to the ground. He wanted the old sage to think he was entering his mindscape to talk to the fox. He _was_ going in there, but not for the furball. He had discovered that his bond with Hinata was manifested physically in the mindscape, and he was going to try something with it now. Within moments, he was standing in front of the fox's cage. Reaching over, he grabbed a rope that was near the cage and gave it a yank. He hated to do this, but there was _no way_ he was going to deal with Jiraiya before he talked to Hinata.

Meanwhile, Hinata was just laying down again after having eaten her lunch. She was infinitely glad for this when she felt herself getting tugged into her mindscape. It was, to say the least, a very odd feeling. She was somehow not surprised when she found herself standing in front of the Nine-Tailed Fox's cage in Naruto's mindscape a moment later. Looking around, she found Naruto holding some kind of silvery rope. "What's that?" she asked.

Naruto gave Hinata a small smile. "It's our bond, I think. I noticed this thing in here last time when we had that one dream, and I figured that's what it had to be. Apparently, I was right; when I tugged on it, you showed up in here."

Hinata thought a moment, then nodded. "That would make sense; I did feel something tugging me in here, I guess it was that." She took a deep breath. "So, what did you need, Naruto?"

Naruto sighed. "You know how you said you don't want to tell anyone about us?" he said. Hinata nodded, her eyes worried. "Well, I think the Pervy Sage already knows."

Hinata gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "How could he know?" she asked. Naruto shrugged. Hinata shook her head. "Oh well, I guess there's nothing we can do about it."

Naruto nodded. "If I can get him to be serious, I can probably get him to promise not to tell anyone about us," he said. "And it might do us some good to have at least one person know...especially if it's him. He might be an old pervert, but he knows how to make people vanish if need be. Plus, he's damn good at being discreet when he wants to."

Hinata sighed. "You have a point. How much does he know, you think?"

Naruto shook his head. "I have no idea. He could know everything for all I know. I do know he knows I've been coming to see you, and that's plenty of reason for me to bring him in on the whole thing, really, just so he'll keep his mouth shut about _that_ part of it." Hinata nodded reluctantly; she'd known their relationship wouldn't be a secret for long, but she'd hoped it'd be longer than _this._ "Well, is it okay with you if I tell him everything then?"

Hinata sighed. "Might as well, I guess. We can't risk him telling anyone else whatever he knows already. I'll leave you to that...will you come see me tomorrow?" she asked shyly, tapping her forefingers together.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "Of course, I wouldn't miss it!" he said. "See you tomorrow." With that, he let go of the silvery rope, and Hinata vanished from his mindscape. _"I'll have to be careful about when I do that,"_ he thought to himself. _"Don't want to leave her in a trance when she's cooking or anything like that."_

Leaving his mindscape, Naruto discovered a worried Jiraiya looking at him curiously. "What were you doing, Naruto?" he asked when he was sure his student was completely awake.

"I've got something to tell you about, Pervy Sage," he said. "And you might want to sit down...this is going to take a while."

xxxxxx

It had taken Naruto nearly an hour to explain everything that was going on to his mentor. Now, the blond was watching the sage with a calculating expression. Jiraiya could tell from the boy's look that, if he screwed up now, the boy would never trust him again. "So let me get this straight," he said seriously. "You made a vow on her blood, so now the two of you can feel each other's feelings and hear each other's thoughts. She knows about your tenant, and the two of you are dating. For now, though, you want to keep it a secret until things settle down. Is that about right?" Naruto nodded. "Okay, kiddo, I won't tell anyone for the time being."

Naruto sighed in relief. "I need to ask your advice about something, Jiraiya," he said. The fact that he called the man _by name_ for once caught the sage so off-guard his attention was instantly riveted on the boy. He had never once done that, which meant that whatever Naruto was going to say, he was deadly serious about it. Naruto took note of this. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "The first time I met Hinata in my mind was in a dream...and we had sex in the dream. We've met in a dream a couple other times, but nothing happened then, we just talked. Then the other day, when I was in her hospital room, I almost had sex with her right then and there. I really don't know what came over us, but she wanted to, too. The only reason we didn't was her heart wouldn't let us." Jiraiya was giggling perversely and had a slight nosebleed by this time, but at least Naruto could tell he was listening. "I just...I don't know how I'll know when the time is right for us to...you know, do it for real. I don't want to rush her, and I don't want to do it too soon, but how will I know?"

Jiraiya took a deep breath and wiped his nose quickly. _"I wasn't expecting him to come to _me_ for advice about _that!" Jiraiya thought to himself. _"Still, I can't make light of this. He's got good reason to worry, and he's being mature enough to ask someone about it. I'm still surprised he asked _me,_ but hey, whatever. I'm glad the brat trusts me enough to bring it up to me!"_ Returning his attention to Naruto, the Sannin gave a small smile and told him, "I can't even begin to explain how you'll know, kid. You'll just both know. Everything will work out just right, and you'll both just...know." Naruto gave him an annoyed look. "I know that doesn't help much, but trust me, kid, you'll know. And it won't just be you, either, she'll know, too. And when you both know, you'll make love, and it will be the single most amazing thing either of you has ever experienced or will ever experience. That first time will be the most special time of both your lives, and it's a memory you will cherish forever. I can't really say any more about it than that. The only advice I can really give you is this: it's a time you'll remember for the rest of your life, so make sure the memory is a good one!" That said, the elderly sage seemed to slip into his own thoughts; in truth, he was remembering his own first time. He may have awakened the next morning with a horrid hangover only to get pounded by an angry hungover Tsunade, but it was _worth every second!_ Even to this day, he could remember that night as clear as if he'd been sober, and the memory of her pert breasts and erect nipples had fueled many a Make-Out Paradise writing session. The look on Orochimaru's face as they left his apartment the next morning was just icing on the cake.

Naruto sighed and sank into thought himself. _"Well, that was worthless," _he thought to himself. _"I mean...what kind of advice is 'you'll just know'? I mean, in all fairness, he's probably right, but really, that doesn't help at all!"_ Standing up, he turned to the old sage. "Well, thanks for the advice, I guess," he said. "Now, can we get some training done today? I still need to get better at accessing the furball's chakra whenever I need it."

Jiraiya chuckled at the blond's nickname for the fox, then nodded. "Sure, Naruto, sure. Let's see what you've got." And so their training for the day began.

xxxxxx

Hinata sighed as she returned to her own body after talking with Naruto. It just _had_ to be Master Jiraiya, didn't it? It couldn't be the Hokage or Kurenai-sensei or Kakashi-sensei, no, of course not, it just _had_ to be the most infamous pervert to ever come out of the Hidden Leaf Village! Over the next few minutes, she caught flashes of nervousness, worry, and relief from Naruto as he, presumably, told Jiraiya about them. He sent her a brief flash of comfort to let her know nothing was wrong, then he suddenly got excited; Hinata giggled. Apparently they were going to get to training.

What happened next was hard for Hinata to understand. She began getting flashes of images. First, she saw an image of a small river. Next, an image of a tree approaching quickly met her gaze. Next, she saw Jiraiya knocked over and laying on his back. Then she was treated to a _very_ up-close look at about ten Narutos. This was so confusing and strange that the girl simply closed her eyes tight and shook her head, trying to fight off the niggling idea that she was losing her mind. After she shook her head, though, the images stopped, so she guessed she was just seeing things. It was still weird, but she shook it off.

Naruto, meanwhile, had felt Hinata's fear and worry. He had no idea what had caused it, but he was glad it faded after his last clone dispelled. _"I'll have to make sure to ask her about that later,"_ he thought.

Hinata sighed, then got up and made her way to the bathroom. "That was weird," she said to herself, looking at herself in the mirror over the sink. Splashing her face with water, she felt a bit better. Taking care of her business in the bathroom, she returned to her bed and closed her eyes to relax.

Just as she got comfortable again, Hinata's peace was interrupted. Kiba burst into the room, Akamaru yapping excitedly about seeing her. Hinata smiled at her teammates, then nodded to Shino when he entered moments after Kiba. Kurenai wasn't far behind the two boys. Hinata smiled at her sensei as she entered. Surprising no one, it was Kiba who spoke first. "How are you, Hinata?" he asked her.

Hinata smiled. "I'm feeling fine, Kiba," she said back. "It's nice to see you all. How are you all doing without me?"

Kurenai smiled at her favorite student. "We'll survive, I'm sure," she said. "But we all miss you, Hinata."

Hinata sighed and blushed slightly. "I'm sorry I'm such a burden," she told them. "Even when I'm not there, I hold you back." As she said this, Naruto got a flash of her depression and sent her another flash of comfort. Hinata smiled slightly at his caring action.

Kiba came over to Hinata and rested a hand on hers. "You're not holding us back, Hinata," he assured her. "You're our friend, and we miss having you there with us, that's all!"

Hinata smiled, then pulled her hand out from under Kiba's; she knew it was just a comforting action, but it still felt somehow...wrong to let Kiba do that when she was with Naruto. "Thank you, Kiba," she said quietly.

It was Shino who spoke next. "His actions are simply logical, Hinata," he said. "You are our teammate, our comrade, and our friend. It is logical for us to comfort you when you are sad."

Kurenai rolled her eyes and rested a hand on Shino's shoulder. "What Shino is trying to say," she said, "is that we all care about you, Hinata, and we're not going to let you be down on yourself when there's no reason for it."

Hinata giggled and smiled at her team. "Thank you, all of you," she said sincerely. "I'm glad I have friends like you."

Kurenai smiled at her team. "When you get out of here, Hinata, we're all going to take you out anywhere you want to go," she said. "You may have lost, but I think you improved during the Chunin Exams, and you're going to be okay, and that is something worth celebrating!"

Hinata blushed deep red and smiled at her team as the two boys nodded. "Thank you, all of you," she said. Just then, she got a flash of love from Naruto, which only made her blush all the deeper. Immediately following on it was a flash of Naruto's mischievous grin. Hinata sent him a flash of a glare, followed by her own love so he wouldn't think she was really mad.

Naruto chuckled at Hinata's reaction; he'd been training about twenty minutes when he felt Hinata suddenly get embarrassed, so he sent her a flash of his love, knowing full well it would embarrass her all the more, which it did. That glare she sent him was probably the cutest angry look he'd ever seen, and the love following it more than made the glare worth it.

Hinata had to smile at Naruto's antics, but she wasn't about to say anything to her team about _that._ Kiba noticed her deeper blush, though, and couldn't resist teasing her. "You're thinking of _Naruto_ again, aren't you?" he said. Of course, Hinata blushed deeper _still,_ inventing a new shade or two of red in the process.

Kurenai grabbed Kiba's shoulder and gave him a glare and a shake of her head. Shino simply looked at Kiba with an eyebrow raised disapprovingly. "It would be illogical to embarrass our teammate further when her heart is in such a fragile state," he said in his usual monotone.

Kiba scratched at one of his cheeks, thoroughly shamed. "You're right. Sorry, Hinata," he said.

Hinata shook her head. "It's okay, Kiba," she said then. "And yes, I was thinking of Naruto."

Shino gave Hinata a small smile. "It is logical to be thinking of someone you care about, especially when the person is going to face a perilous trial in the near future," he said. "It does you credit, Hinata."

Kurenai chuckled at her student; Shino was so hard to read sometimes. "You'll have your chance with him, Hinata," she said. "He might be a bonehead, but he's not stupid enough to reject you."

Hinata met Kurenai's eyes and flashed her sensei a private smile. "I know," she said softly, then added, "Naruto really isn't as stupid as you guys think sometimes, though."

Kurenai was a bit surprised at the private smile Hinata sent her way. _"Could it be?"_ she wondered. Deciding to not say anything to the girl about that at the moment, she commented, "That's probably true. Of the four of us, you probably know him the best, Hinata. I meant no offense."

Hinata waved her sensei off. "I know that, Kurenai-sensei," she said quietly. Then she yawned. "Sorry, guys, but I really should get to sleep. It's been something of an eventful day, and I'm tired."

Kurenai nodded in understanding and herded the two boys out after they all said their goodbyes to their teammate. Even Akamaru gave a cheerful bark of farewell. Kurenai gave the girl in the bed one final parting smile, and then they were gone. Hinata sighed deeply and lay back on her bed. She sent a burst of happiness over the bond to Naruto to let him know everything was all right, then closed her eyes and began to drift toward sleep.

When Naruto got Hinata's burst of happiness, he was just getting into his apartment. The day had been long and less than productive, so he was a bit frustrated. Her happiness made him smile, though. Going through his evening routine, Naruto got himself ready for bed just in time to practically collapse onto his mattress. Within moments, the two Genin were sound asleep.

xxxxxx

Naruto arrived at the hospital the next morning and found Hinata standing in front of the receptionist's desk. "Oh, Hinata!" he said, surprised. "Are you getting released?"

Hinata smiled. "Yeah, they said I should be okay to go home today. I'm going to watch the finals first, though."

Naruto smiled back. "That's great!" he said. "You'll get to watch me beat up Neji then!" Hinata could tell he was a little worried about the match, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

She smiled and rested a hand on his arm. "I'm sure you'll do great," she said then.

"Me, too," he said back, forcing a smile. Hinata looked at him, worried, then asked what was wrong. "I'm just afraid...if I fulfill the vow...we'll lose our bond," he told her.

Hinata gasped. She hadn't thought of that! "Well...even if we do...let's just promise to stay together, even then, okay?" she said.

Naruto smiled and nodded. This time, his smile was real. "Yeah, that's a promise!" he said.

Hinata looked at the clock hanging in the room. "Oh, no! You're going to be late!" she told him. Naruto saw the clock and gasped; she was right, he had to get going!

"You're right, gotta go, Hinata!" he said. "I'll see you after the finals, okay?" Hinata nodded, and Naruto took off out of the hospital toward the Chunin Exams Arena. Hinata left after the receptionist finished checking her out of the hospital.

Naruto got to the Arena just in time to hear the Hokage giving a speech to begin the finals. Hinata arrived during the speech along with Kiba, who had come to pick her up from the hospital. Kiba and Hinata found some seats and sat down; Kiba just happened to be sitting right next to two Chunin he vaguely recognized but couldn't place just then. Hinata smiled as she saw Naruto down on the ground of the Arena. _"Good luck, Naruto,"_ she thought. Naruto caught her eye and smiled at her briefly before returning his attention to the proctor, who was showing them something Hinata couldn't make out from where she was. After a few moments, everyone but Naruto and Neji made their way into the stands.

The proctor turned toward the crowd and called out, "May the first match of the Chunin Exam Finals...BEGIN!"


End file.
